Hares begin to breed when they are about a year old, and produce several broods each year, each consisting of from two to five young. I have been informed that in New Zealand hares usually produce three or four young in a litter, whereas in England they seldom have more than two. It is also stated that the animals are larger here than in Britain. Both statements require verification, but if these are facts they are probably due only to the abundance of the food-supply.
It is just about fifty years since hares were first introduced into New Zealand, and the most remarkable thing about this fact is that the numbers originally brought here were so small. The Otago Acclimatization Society appear to have been the first to bring them here. They got three from Geelong, in Victoria, in 1867, and liberated them at Waihola, where two years later they were reported to be plentiful. Another was obtained in 1868, and three more in 1875. The Canterbury Society got two in 1868 and four in 1873. The Southland Society imported some (the number is not recorded) in 1869 from Victoria, two more in 1871, and two in 1874, and then forty in 1887. The Nelson Society introduced some (again the number is not specified) in 1872, and it is stated that these increased so rapidly as to become a nuisance in the district. These are all the records I can find of importations from abroad into the South Island, and, considering the casual manner and small numbers in which they were introduced, their subsequent increase is most remarkable. They soon spread all over the flatter parts of the Island, keeping mostly about cultivated land, and especially in districts where rabbits were not abundant. They are now common from Foveaux Strait to Cook Strait.
In the North Island the Auckland Society introduced two hares in 1868 and nine in 1871. I can find no other record. From the Auckland District they spread south, and other acclimatization societies assisted to distribute them far and wide. Wellington liberated two in 1874, fourteen in 1875, and four in 1876; and in 1885 reported them as “numerous in the vicinity of Wellington and the lower end of the Wairarapa Valley.” In more recent years they are reported as in large numbers about Marton, increasing about Pahiatua, and as seen in almost every part of the Eketahuna district. The Taranaki Society introduced them in 1876, and they were reported as thriving in 1884. On Mount Egmont at the present time they are common about the bush-line, and in the summer months up to 6,000 ft. In 1905 the Waimarino Society purchased and liberated a number, and protected them for two years. Later on they became so numerous that they were declared to be no longer game, and all restrictions about shooting them were removed. I learn from Mr. E. Phillips Turner, of the New Zealand Forest Department, that they are found all through the volcanic plateau of the North Island from Rotorua to Waiouru.
In no part of New Zealand have they increased to a greater extent than in South Canterbury, where they became so abundant that a considerable export trade sprang up, mostly from the Port of Timaru. Thus the total number of frozen hares exported from New Zealand in 1910 was declared at 10,744, and in 1911 at 11,418. The number has varied in subsequent years, but is still very considerable. It is probable that a good many hares are exported but declared in the Customs returns as rabbits.
In some parts of New Zealand hares tend to become white in the winter season, just as they do in parts of the Old Country, following the same seasonal variations as occur in ferrets, stoats, and other sub-Arctic animals. Several observers state that this is a familiar phenomenon in South Canterbury.
The Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus).
This interesting little animal belongs to an order called the Insectivora, not because they are the only mammals which eat insects, but because the latter creatures, with worms and other “small fry,” constitute the whole, or nearly the whole, of their food. Hedgehogs are small, stoutly-built animals, with very short tails, and the greater part of the hairs on the upper surface are converted into spines. They have the power of rolling themselves into balls, and these spines thus constitute a most powerful defensive armour. The spines are about 1 in. long, and are hard and sharp; they are greyish in colour, with a dark-brown or nearly black ring a little above the middle. The legs are short, so that the animal runs with its belly nearly touching the ground, and the feet have five toes. A full-grown hedgehog is about 10 in. long. When a tame hedgehog is poked on the forehead it puts its head down, erects its bristles like a crest, and utters little short grunts; sometimes they make this grunting noise at night. In the cauldron scene in Macbeth Shakespeare makes the Second Witch say, “Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.”
In the colder parts of Europe the hedgehog becomes torpid in winter, and lies asleep for months in a nest of moss or leaves, usually in a hole or sheltered hollow. I do not know how long it hibernates in New Zealand. It wakes up in spring, very hungry, and in its excursions, which are undertaken at night, it proceeds to make up for lost time, and runs about with a quick shuffling gait. It is particularly fond of beetles, but it eats all sorts of insects, as well as worms, slugs, and small snails. Occasionally it goes for bigger things, such as frogs and mice, young birds, and especially eggs. It has been credited with turning a hen off her nest and eating her eggs. Sometimes it eats vegetables, and I am told that about Christchurch it digs the potatoes out of the rows. On the whole, however, it is a beneficial animal in a garden.
